Corvisart des Marets, Jean-Nicolas

Abstract

Corvisart des Marets, Jean-Nicolas: (b. Dricourt, France, 15 February 1755; d. Paris, France, 18 September 1821), medicine, clinical diagnosis, pathological anatomy, heart disease. Corvisart was born on a small family property in the Ardennes region of Champagne, east of Paris. He was the second son of Pierre Corvisart, an attorney of the Parlement (high court) of Paris who had returned to his birthplace when that body was exiled from the capital by Louis xv. Pierre's wife, Madeleine-Louise Scribot, was also a native of the Ardennes, having been born in a nearby village. When the Parlement was later recalled by the king, Pierre returned to Paris with his family. Jean-Nicolas, however, was not taken with them but instead, possibly for reasons of economy, was sent to Vimille near Boulogne on the Straits of Dover to live with one of his maternal uncles, the village priest. This uncle, the abbé Pain-Dubuisson, was responsible for the young Corvisart's education until he reached the age of twelve.